Children of the Advolution

Predicting the next 5,000 days of the web

2008-09-03T11:50:00.000-07:00

BREAKING NEWS: Without great branding, the world goes on.

2008-08-28T09:34:00.000-07:00

I am shocked too.

But I'm one of them. (now)

This little nugget was linked to at the bottom of a Hugh post about living at the "edges".

All Is Vanity
1	The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
2	Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.
3	What profit hath a man of all his labor which he taketh under the sun?
4	One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever.
5	The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose.
6	The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits.
7	All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full: unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.
8	All things are full of labor; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
9	The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.
10	Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us.
11	There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after.

An interesting reminder that everything goes on without us.

Something tells me that I am supposed to interpret this passage to mean that we should be mindful of our insignificant role in the world. To remind us that we are one part of something big and grand. bigger than us.

I don't see it that way - This tells me to focus on Vanity.

"All is Vanity"

We don't do what we do because of any of those things in the verse above. We do for Vanity.

We buy for Vanity, express ourselves for Vanity. the very ideal of self is vein.

Is this a problem?

Great Breifs Beget Great Work

2008-03-12T09:59:00.001-07:00

I've just returned from Miami where among being treated to one of the greatest vacations of my life, I was able to participate and witness the newest advert that Sony will be blessing us with in the near future.

What I found most interesting was the brief given to Fallon UK by Sony, stating simply to be: Like No Other. The "Like No Other" brief was first manifested in the 2005 bouncing ball extravaganza, followed by an orchestra of exploding paint and in 2007 showcased a bazillion Play-doh bunnies hopping amongst an amazed crowd.

Well, the lasted installment of Like No Other manifested in Miami where a giant bubble machine and a crew of over 150 members helped capture a truly stunning event: Foam City.

I've written a bit about it at iF! with more information to be coming through the next days.

As this blog is about advolution and my mantra is: Fear is the enemy, I would like to point out that this work is the product of a very brave client giving a very creative agency a very brave brief, and more extraodinarily, sticking to it.

Bouncy Balls:

Exploding Paint:

Play-Doh Bunnies:

Building Better Briefs

2008-03-06T00:31:00.000-08:00

Henry Lambert of iF! (PSFK) has just posted this article about brief writing:

The ever provocative and thoughtful Richard Huntington has posted his thoughts on how to approach brief writing. Richard is not a big fan of bureaucratic form filling, and would much rather see the time spent on thinking through the brief rather than writing useless pen portraits.
[The form] is naked because the structure is so spare that it directs one's attention to the quality of the thinking and away from the quality of the form.
And this is how it goes:
1. The role for communications. Look mum, no background. Background is usually an excuse to dump a load of stuff that is not important enough to get in the body of the brief but somehow seems like it might be relevant. My advice is to bin the background and get straight into the effect the activity is intended to create. The role should get to the absolute heart of the problem. And when you have nailed it it is still worth asking yourself 'why' a couple more times simply to get to right to the root of the task.
2. Target audience. This is the stuff about the audience that is absolutely relevant to the task. And don't write it in a "Timothy and Samantha are both aged 24 and like to go out a lot, watch DVDs at home and have a very experimental attitude towards sex" unless you have actually met these people and you aren't just making up some ghastly advertising targeting confection. This sort of trite story is the 21st century equivalent of telling the creative team that the audience are ABC1, Men and Women aged 25-44 - the square root of fuck all use.
3. Proposition. Call it what you will but this is what you are trying to communicate about the brand. Propositions work with the role for communications. The role for communications sets the challenge the work must meet and the proposition is the idea that we want to land about the brand.
4. Support. The stuff that convinces you that the thinking can be supported, will convince the creatives and ultimately will convince the consumer. This is not the repository of all knowable information on earth but the stuff that makes the thinking compelling.
5. Tone. Only if it makes the difference and you can elevate yourself above the cesspit of statements like "businesslike but not formal". On Tango briefs I used to write that if the work wasn't so funny that it made you piss blood then the work wasn't right.
6. Requirements. What do we know we have to do. If it is prescriptive then tell the team what the media agency has already bought. If this is a campaign that can achieve its aims by any means necessary then keep it open.
7. Mandatories. This is not the place on the brief to get creative. It is the place to communicate the stuff that is non-negotiable.
8. Creative starters. Use this to road test your thinking and to open up the ambition of the brief. Ensure that a couple are media starters, and if the requirements are open guide the team about the nature of potential solutions - digital applications, events, promotional ideas - whatever it takes.
It's as boring as hell but that is the point. Minimum time spent designing a funky new creative brief and maximum time spent on the thought or thinking that goes into them.

Things To Look Forward To:

2008-02-20T21:20:00.000-08:00

I stand firmly by my belief that I could have learned more with a library card than with a college education... maybe. Neither here nore there, in the coming days / weeks I will be reviewing the following books:

+ ZAG
+ The Dip
+ All Marketers Are Liars

You May Recognize Me From...

2008-02-20T13:35:00.001-08:00

if.psfk.com

Here are some of my latest articles that have been posted to iF! Check out iF! and get your daily digest of inspiration.

So Crazy It Just Might Work

2008-02-07T10:19:00.000-08:00

I've been mulling over this wacky advolutionary idea for a while now. It's absolutely insane and would not, could not work. But, maybe it could.

Advertising agencies are notorious for having their love / hate relationship with their clients: "Yes, they feed me, but they also turn my soul black and my heart to stone."

Well. WHAT IF... there was a "dream team" of advertising geniuses that happened to assemble themselves together without ego or obstacle? And, WHAT IF, they did something that no agency has done before?

This agency is called Me and the Wildcard.

Me and the Wildcard is an agency that has something every client would clammor for -- but it comes at a price. A wild price.

In order to get the dream team working for your brand, a client would have to agree to the "wildcard clause", being that they could be dense A-holes about most everything except 10% of everything. Yes, 10% of any advertising initiative would be dedicated to the Wildcard. The Wildcard would be one of those ideas that are created that are absolutely brilliant, but a little scary, too. You know, the ideas that the client "appreciates" but kindly abstains from. They are the ideas that would change things.

The Wildcard could be a fun and interactive way to "pump" your client up, too. The Agency could set it up game-show style: door #1, 2, and 3.

Obama's Intergrated Marketing Campaign

2008-02-03T23:27:00.000-08:00

Preface: This post is NOT an endorsment.

Barack Obama's politcal campaign is a force. It has spawned spontaneous and unsolicited grassroots efforts. It has attracted big name celebrities. And, it has reached out to a modern era in a modern way. Most importantly, it doesn't seem to take itself too seriously.

This political marketing campaign has evolved in an organic way that mimics the politician's own political style which seems to project: innovation, change and a departure from tradition.

Here are a couple of gems from his campaign thus far.

A catchy tagline.

Barack'n'Roll. (Sure, it's a pun, but it's also smart, catchy and relevant. It almost reminds me of a CPB Mini Ad?)

Great Guerrilla Marketing.

Note: This poster was created by the king of guerrilla street marketing: Shepard Bush or "Obey". As Fallon's blog says

"This as a significant endorsement because street artists, in general, tend to be anti-helping-the-man. They are known for being anti-this and anti-that, but rarely, if ever do we see them promoting a politician, or a presidential candidate for that matter. Not to mention Obey has quite the following. Equally, if not more significant, is that the Obama camp appears to be embracing the endorsement."

User generated Viral Videos.

(Ok, so I am not sold that this proves that Hillary's election as president would result in an Orwellean society, but kudos on the use of the "best ad in history" to prove your point.)

Can we say web 2.0?

Sexy.

Celebrity Endorsements.

So, not only do we have Oprah bringing her powerful "Oprah effect" to the table, but today we find that Maria Shriver, first lady to Republican Govornater and known Mccain supporter Arnold Schwarzenegger, endorsing the charming candidate, too.

And these two women are only a sliver of the star power that is lighting this campaign. We've got names like: Clooney, Pitt, Johannson, Caroline Kennedy - daughter of the late President John F. Kennedy, Will Smith, Chris Rock, Sidney Poitier and Bradford Marsalis, Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy, Isaiah Washington, Tyra Banks, Morgan Freeman, Halle Berry, Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker and Hill Harper. To name a few.

"Niche" marketing.

So, it's not the most sophisticated niche marketing we've ever seen -- but still.

Unbelievable speach making.

Powerful and consistent messaging.

Change. Change. Change.

And then there's this:

"That shit is hot" - Zack Marker

He's changed the game.

Model For The Successful Modern Brand: Britney Spears

2007-12-26T19:51:00.000-08:00

In the ninties there was no one easier to hate than Britney. Her bubblegum pop and obvious lack of talent was... obvious. She was a record company creation- a lowest common denominator hit factory. And the hits came.

Do I need to go on? We were all there.

I was among the most adamant of her critics.

Then something happened. She began this downward spiral. Suddenly, we all realized that cute accent wasn't all she brought with her from the trailer - it was ugly. It was fantastic. We all watched even closer.

It got uglier.

Do I need to go on? We were all there.

Then she surprised us all; she released a great product- Blackout.

She did not try to tell us she changed; she did not beg the photogs to leave her alone; she did not even ask us to forgive her.

She shoved her "personality" in our face.

And we loved it. I love it.

In fact, I am listing to her now - and I KNOW her.
Why?

How To Change The World?

2007-07-01T02:39:00.000-07:00

Step 1: Believe in something

What do you believe in?

Santa Claus?

A Little Inspiration From a Likely Source

2007-06-26T13:15:00.000-07:00

Ah. I have been neglecting you, children, have I not?

I apologize. Though I must say I have not been ignoring the advolution. Quite the opposite, in fact. I have begun writing on a much more visible platform. PSFK has taken me on as a writing intern.

Usually having a properly, if not overly, fed ego, as of late I have been so wimpy. I can't even write a cover letter! It seems alot like writing to your longtime crush; there's alot at stake!

Anyways, to try to mark the end of my cowardly ways I bring to you a post about blinking by Seth Godin:

"When you are sitting right on the edge of something daring and scary and creative and powerful and perhaps wonderful... and you blink and take a step back.

That's the moment. The moment between you and remarkable. Most people blink. Most people get stuck.

All the hard work and preparation and daring and luck is nothing compared with the ability to not blink."

Maybe it's YOU who should change

2007-04-16T18:30:00.000-07:00

Some people call me blashpemous, dangerous, even down right wrong. But as long as Seth Godin is on my side, I think I'll take my chances. Thank you.

"Almost no new idea meets the needs of shareholders and CEOs. That's because most of all they need predictability and apparent freedom from risk. This is why public companies are almost always on the road to disaster. They flee from change in order to do what they think is meeting the needs of those constituents. They fight changes in laws, policies, technologies and markets because their CEO (especially) wants a nice even flight pattern while he racks up big time options." - Seth Godin

I don't mean to say I told you so, but, "I told you so."

"We, the people...

2007-04-12T20:22:00.001-07:00

Who want to change the world, will be the ones who do."

Step 1: Pretend that I am actually credible Step 2: Read this!

2007-03-24T07:36:00.001-07:00

Secrets out: Technology is changing and the way people are consuming technology is changing. Now, the way brands are going to be able to communicate with the people should change, too. Don't resist it - that is when injuries happen. It will be much less painful if a brand is willing to accept this and learn from it than if they choose to ignore it, and here’s why:

We – you, I, your brother, the next door neighbor, enemy – are the people who are controlling what we know. We are controlling when and where and how and why we receive any message. We are making choices that are personalized to our own individual preferences. If we don’t want to see an ad we don’t have to... and there is nothing you can do about it. We will choose which brands succeed and which brands die. The brand will wait on the consumer and not the other way around.

It is okay to feel uncomfortable about this change, it is change, that is what change does. Fret not my pet. Find comfort in knowing that brands are still relevant.

What’s most important is for brands to be secure with the brand they are. After all, you've got a good brand, haven't you? It is about a brand making the same kind of decisions that people make about themselves everyday. That is not a new concept, brands have been defining themselves for as long as I can remember, what’s new is that they can and will be held accountable for it.

So what? Be honest. That’s not too hard. Do what you say. That isn’t so tough either.

This is the age of the empowered consumer. It is also the age of the informed consumer.

I wish I were advanced enough to for-see just how much opportunity lies in the very near future.

My humble advice?

Figure out who you are fast. Be less worried in who your public is and more interested in knowing who you are how you can do a better job of letting people know. Then, they can choose you.

Hire people that are smarter than you. Undoubtedly, things are changing faster than any brand can adapt to. Let someone figure out what is worth adapting or not adapting to.

And to that affect… be adaptable, damnit! You are not the boss anymore. They are. How are you going to make their lives happier, better, or easier.

Shut up and listen. People are telling you what they need. If you just close your mouth and open your ears, maybe you will actually learn something from them. And for free? Imagine that.

Embrace it. No one really knows what they are doing. You can’t really fail unless you choose to stop trying.
Everything will be okay. If you have done all this then have confidence. You are good enough, smart enough and gosh darnit, people like you!

2007-03-08T13:55:00.000-08:00

today was that first of the "culture team" meetings I have joined. Their goal is to re-invent and build the agency culture.

A visionary at the agency said "I think, at the end of this, we should make the leadership team feel very uncomfortable"

I wrote at the top of my binder "make people feel uncomfortable"

Its just something we should do - no specific context.

Make leadership feel uncomfortable - that's how you know it isn't the same

Make the team feel uncomfortable - great is never good enough; exhale in July.

Make other teams uncomfortable - they should fear our Bar

Make judges uncomfortable - asking themselves if it can be done; if they deserve their jobs.

Today we will be making the client uncomfortable.

I get it. Anamoly gets it. Do you get it?

2007-02-17T21:33:00.000-08:00

Ride the "wave" of the future...or whatever the dinasaurs say these days.

This is from a podcast with Seth Godin. I haven't been doing as much philosophy lately, so I will let him do it for me.

What ad agencies ought to do, in my opinion, is not focus on selling ads anymore. And instead, focus on getting in deeper within the clients, and help the clients make products that people want to talk about.”
“The problem is that ad agencies have defined themselves as the
people who take the mediocre products and add interesting ads to them,
and washed their hands and say, we can’t do anything about what the
factory brings us. And my answer is, of course you can, and the clients
actually want you to, you’re just not working hard enough to get that
piece of business.”
“Style and fashion spread through the ad agency business really
fast. But they’re very bad at changing what they do for a living,
they’re very bad at any form of new media, they’re bad at pushing
clients to really dramatically, fundamentally reinvent themselves. What
they’re very good at is adopting a new slogan or a new look or a new
image. That’s deckchair re-arranging.”
“The way to get promoted in an ad agency is to get a new client who
spends lots of money on television. Well, if that’s the way you get
promoted, what do you think people are going to do all day?”

You Are All Sheep

2007-02-15T09:57:00.000-08:00

I define "sheepwalking" as the outcome of hiring people who have been raised to be obedient and giving them a braindead job and enough fear to keep them in line.

You've probably encountered someone who is sheepwalking.

The TSA 'screener' who forces a mom to drink from a bottle of breast milk because any other action is not in the manual. A 'customer service' rep who will happily reread a company policy six or seven times but never stop to actually consider what the policy means. A marketing executive who buys millions of dollars of TV time even though she knows it's not working--she does it because her boss told her to.

It's ironic but not surprising that in our age of increased reliance on new ideas, rapid change and innovation, sheepwalking is actually on the rise. That's because we can no longer rely on machines to do the brain-dead stuff.

We've mechanized what we could mechanize. What's left is to cost-reduce the manual labor that must be done by a human. So we write manuals and race to the bottom in our search for the cheapest possible labor. And it's not surprising that when we go to hire that labor, we search for people who have already been trained to be sheepish.

Training a student to be sheepish is a lot easier than the alternative. Teaching to the test, ensuring compliant behavior and using fear as a motivator are the easiest and fastest ways to get a kid through school. So why does it surprise us that we graduate so many sheep?

And graduate school? Since the stakes are higher (opportunity cost, tuition and the job market), students fall back on what they've been taught. To be sheep. Well-educated, of course, but compliant nonetheless.

And many organizations go out of their way to hire people that color inside the lines, that demonstrate consistency and compliance. And then they give these people jobs where they are managed via fear. Which leads to sheepwalking. ("I might get fired!")

The fault doesn't lie with the employee, at least not at first. And of course, the pain is often shouldered by both the employee and the customer.

Is it less efficient to pursue the alternative? What happens when you build an organization like Goretex or the Acumen Fund? At first, it seems crazy. There's too much overhead, too many cats to herd, too little predictability and way too much noise. Then, over and over, we see something happen. When you hire amazing people and give them freedom, they do amazing stuff.

And the sheepwalkers and their bosses just watch and shake their heads, certain that this is just an exception, and that it is way too risky for their industry or their customer base.

I was at a Google conference last month, and I spent some time in a room filled with (pretty newly minuted) Google salesreps. I talked to a few of them for a while about the state of the industry. And it broke my heart to discover that they were sheepwalking.

Just like the receptionist at a company I visited a week later. She acknowledged that the front office is very slow, and that she just sits there, reading romance novels and waiting. And she's been doing it for two years.

Just like the MBA student I met yesterday who is taking a job at a major packaged goods company... because they offered her a great salary and promised her a well-known brand. She's going to stay, "for just ten years, then have a baby and leave and start my own gig..." She'll get really good at running coupons in the Sunday paper, but not particularly good at solving new problems.

What a waste.

Step one is to give the problem a name. Done. Step two is for anyone who sees themself in this mirror to realize that you can always stop. You can always claim the career you deserve merely by refusing to walk down the same path as everyone else just because everyone else is already doing it.

The biggest step, though, comes from anyone who teaches or hires. And that's to embrace non-sheep behavior, to reward it and cherish it. As we've seen just about everywhere there's been growth lately, that's where the good stuff happens.

[I just reread this, and I'm betting some people will think I'm being way too harsh. That depends. It depends on whether you believe that people have a considerable amount of innate potential, that work is too time-consuming to be dull and that organizations need passion (from employees and from customers) if they want to grow. If you believe that the relationship between marketers and the people they touch is important enough to invest in. I think if you believe all that, if you believe in yourself and your co-workers, then this isn't nearly harsh enough. We need to hurry. We need to wake up.]

Thanks, Seth!

"The brave will inherit the earth"

Wasn't me.

2007-01-28T19:11:00.000-08:00

The more I think about it -

2007-01-25T00:55:00.000-08:00

Segment is a dirty word.

Its definition is to DIVIDE A WHOLE.

That sounds downright un-American to me. Anybody remember a little dity called the Pledge of Allegience? Vaugely, oh, well let me refresh your memory.

United we stand, divided we fall.

Maybe its about time that we find a better way to look at the market than by "segmenting" it. And, what about the word market...OH NO YOU DIDN'T GO THERE.

I feel dirty.

mmmm, Axe... It's how dirty boys get clean, you know?

Seth Godin on Creativity

2007-01-24T10:38:00.000-08:00

"99% of the time, in my experience, the hard part about creativity isn't coming up with something no one has ever thought of before. The hard part is actually executing the thing you've thought of."

"The devil doesn't need an advocate. The brave need supporters, not critics."

The brave need supporters, not critics.

The brave need supporters, not critics.

The brave need supporters, not critics.

The brave need supporters, not critics.

The brave need supporters, not critics.

The brave need supporters, not critics.

The brave need supporters, not critics.

Dream it you F*ckin' Dreamers!

2007-01-24T10:28:00.000-08:00

"If you don't have a dream, then how you gonna make a dream come true?"

So, I was thinking about Jews -

2007-01-23T02:05:00.000-08:00

and blogging.

Strangely enough the two have something in common you may not have ever thought about. Stay with me.

So, a blog, nowadays, is basically a glorified diary. I can attest to this because a whole 2 people read this (including myself). But, blogs are supposed to be a tool for "change agents," or so I'm told. And yet, 11 million + blogs later - have any actually changed the world?

Now, you think they would have a better chance than a diary. A diary that has the reach of you and maybe your mother and nosy housekeeper. That, while a blog has the capabilities to reach millions, possibly billions of people. But how many actually do.

Now, there is an exceptionally famous diary made by an exceptionally famous Jewish girl. You may have heard of her; her name is Anne Frank and quite arguably she and her diary changed the world.

I'm not sure where this all is going, it is seeming to culminate in 3 thoughts:

1. Maybe you've got to be against all odds to have a shot in hell at true greatness
2. The blog phenomenom, like many advertising (or message) mediums is already being exausted and needs an advolution
and,
3. Who did Miss Frank's publicity?

Immmmmm sleepy. peace.

Duallity.

2007-01-21T19:02:00.000-08:00

I saw this drawing today by Hugh McCleod who is an advertising philisophical mastermind often finding his way onto this page of mine. Now that is neither here nor there, but the picture does intruige me. Most relationships I have and that people have with me function under this LOVE/HATE model.

This has been my theory for many a year now and it is always only strengthed:

Hate is not the opposite of love. Indifference is the opposite of love. If you love what you do, GREAT. If you hate what you do, as Honda would advise, "Hate somethin, change somethin". But, if you are indifferent to what you do (or who you do, HEYO) immediately stop doing it and go find something that inspires love and inspires hate. Love is a wonderful thing, but a little bit of hate never hurt anybody. WHAT??????? Controversy here I come! But here's the deal: Evolution is a change that has reacted to a deficient sameness; Revolution is an active change that is reacting to hate; and, Advolution is a change that reacts to both.

Love = Life
Hate = Change
Indifference = Dealth

http://www.honda.co.uk/change/

From an Actress to an Advertiser

2007-01-21T16:17:00.000-08:00

To name a few: Robert De Niro, Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Jim Kerry, Val Kimer.

What do all of these people have in common?

They are all known for using the method acting technique in order to prepare for their most challenging roles. This technique is notorious for being the most difficult way to approach becoming another person on the screen. But, when method acting is successful, it is often acclaimed for producing the most realistic portrayals on the big screen.

Am I a method advertiser? I believe I may be. I partake in "total immersion" advertising quite like I would create a character in theatre by "becoming" that character. This takes a singularly focused mind and the ability to drown out your own thoughts and think only as the character, see the world only as the character and experience as the character would without bouncing back to your own opinions.

Total immersion advertising works the same way except you must be two "characters" at once: the consumer and the brand.

If you think like your brand, you will KNOW like your brand. If you experience like your audience, you will FEEL like your audience.

as we say in Method Acting:

"We are what we do, not what we say."

If you believe in somebody...

2007-01-16T23:30:00.000-08:00

Tell them that you believe in them.

Then, tell them why.

If you believe a person is truly great or special do not hesitate for a moment in telling them why they are great. Too many people let their dreams wither under the BUT THIS/BUT THAT conundrum.

It takes almost no energy at all but could change the world, or at least A world.

Do it.

The Devil Made Me Do It.

2007-01-12T22:34:00.000-08:00

I made this picture because I'm not ready to talk about what I want to talk about.

But I am ready to threaten you. Lovingly. Of course.

Remember:

Be Innovative of DIE.

:)

Pour some out...

2007-01-08T00:18:00.000-08:00

For our homies from 1790 when "Unregulated Creativity" was the word, bird.

That is exactly how it should be. Initial creativity should have no regulations. It should not have to perform, initially, in any conventional concept of time, space or money.

Just thinkin.

what's the most basic, most complex, most desired most despised emotion or state of being?

What is the driving factor of life?

What motivates or initiates, rather, a dream?

Three Questions. One answer. Can you guess?

We need to talk.

2007-01-05T19:59:00.000-08:00

Is telling someone something communication? It half is.

Communication is defined as the exchange of thoughts, messages, or information. According to this definition, neither television, radio or print can be considered communication mediums. In contrast, the internet enables millions of conversations amongst countless participants from every corner of the globe. Is the internet the first true form of mass communication?

Watch This

2007-01-03T20:10:00.000-08:00

Watch this presentation by Lawrence Lessig.

Damnit.

Here is the deal:

In order to let culture grow, we need to have the guts to let go of the past.

At the same time, we try and hold on to the past.

We conservatively clutch the now, at the detriment of the future.

Let go.

Share Ideas

2006-12-28T18:09:00.000-08:00

Today's manifesto is from my hottest agency crush, W+K:

It says "Share Ideas" and it looks like a lava lamp horizontal. And some scoffed in sheer disgust when I turned to work place into an ameoba.

Its catching on...

2006-12-28T12:07:00.000-08:00

I just read a friend's note on my facebook account and it re-energized me about my purpose and the purpose of this here blog. Well, at least part of the purpose.

I try to expel fear, because I truly believe that fear is the enemy of creativity.

My friend is trying to make it in the entertainment industry and I'm sure nobody is awed by that, but maybe we should be.

It is a lot like bringing your ideas to the chopping board at the feet of the client, I can tell you. Except, in advertising we bring our ideas, and although we get pissed off when our idea is exalted as divine, in entertainment, you are bringing you to the chopping board. One of the great things about being a creative is the fact that our idea ability has no known capacity, we can come up with an infinite number of brilliant ideas, ideally. But in the entertainment industry, there is only one you.

So, if you are in advertising and you are afraid, think about that. Think about the fact that you can always come up with another idea. And stop pissing your pants. That smells.

Be brave. Be better. Do not fear.

Death in Advertising

2006-12-26T17:29:00.000-08:00

Someone died in an advertising related death last week.

It was real, as in he is no longer alive.

I don't know what to say.

A bit about S to the T to the RATEG and Y

2006-12-26T08:47:00.000-08:00

This is the word, and the word is wonderful:

And, the face of strategy you ask?

Three Traits of Highly Crazed People

2006-12-26T08:41:00.000-08:00

If you are in advertising, I'm sure at some point you were either pronounced or self-diagnosed as a bit insane. Well, wonderful. I have thought about it, and these are the three most important traits one must have if he or she is to be called or proclaim to be an "AD Person". Those three things are:

1. A Steady Mind
2. An Unwavering Belief in What they Do

and,

3. They must be a Hopeless Romantic

Gossage makes up words too!

2006-12-22T20:18:00.000-08:00

My new favorite word: Interestingness. I would say Interstingnessification.

The best Trend Map. Ever.

2006-12-22T19:12:00.000-08:00

Click on it, silly.

I'ts not breaking a rule if no one has thought of it yet

2006-12-22T13:45:00.000-08:00

The End:
Make the world a better place

The Means:
Make a lot of boring people very uncomfortable.

*

2006-12-22T02:01:00.000-08:00

Okay, enough with being self serving as that little playful digg was ment to pester one of the few and only readers of this most humble of blogs. :)

* What this is aiming at is to provide a reference point for the advolutionaries among us. Those of us who have a great understanding of how things work now, but can't help the feeling that they are a part of the advolution. When I say rules are for assholes, I am being a little misleading. What I mean by this controversial statement is to inspire those among us who have the capabilities to push things forward, to guide things into a new age. It is a statement meant to provoke those people, those people who are capable but still functioning within the status quo or the accepted establishment because of a fear.

Fear of punishment.

Take one for the team, Assholes.

Ever feel like this?

Well, you may be an asshole.

I hope that cleared up my "rules are for assholes" manifesto. Thanks for reading, and thanks Hugh for always providing me with purrfect illustrations.

Agencies Agree, Defiance Rules, and rules are for Assholes.

2006-12-22T01:50:00.000-08:00

I am researching around trying to prove that rules are for assholes* and that those who make truly great, core shaking advertising are not into following the rules. It just ain't their bag, babe.

I <3 London. Progressive is the name of the game across the pond. So, I took a looksie at a great advertiser's website: TBWA/London and this is what they have to say of their approach to great advertising:

hmm... Disruptive, Defiant and Refreshing, sounds like a couple of words that have been used to describe a certain someone we all know and love, or hate, or hate to love. (me)

Segmenting, more like segmenting.

2006-12-19T18:03:00.000-08:00

Think about it.

The Chaos factor

2006-12-19T17:46:00.000-08:00

In a good way. Tornado's can be destructive, but from that destruction comes potential. Breaking something isn't bad as long as you rebuild something better. AND, better is always better than not better.

So here are five tips on how to be better by being innovative.

1. Source your inspiration from your consumers. Why would an executive know more about what the customer wants than the customer him/herself?

2. Allow for constant, spontaneous consumer involvement. Judge not your consumer by the thickness of their wallet, but by the content of their contribution and desire for that contribution to be completely on their terms.

3. Let your key innovation driver be a deep understanding of your consumer needs. The more you deliver on those consumer needs, the more the consumer needs you. It’s not that hard really, is it?
4. Your toolbox should be packed full of dialogue tools to reach out to your consumer. Email. forums, blogs, smart POS and other forms of dialogue media are the new combine tractors harvesting the fields of innovation.

5. Your process to innovation should be controlled chaos. Straight and narrow process will deliver straight and narrow innovation. Open up your process to a little structured chaos, and a universe of potential is unleashed

And what type of activities can get you in trouble and make an uninnovative enviornment? Funny you should ask, I will tell you.

1. Is the executive team the main source of inspiration for your company’s innovation?
2. Is customer involvement in innovation structured?
3. Are your key innovation drivers your products and current assets?
4. Does your innovation toolbox primarily contain surveys, storyboards and focus groups?
5. Is your process to innovation a linear structured one?

Be better.

Today's Manifesto

2006-12-19T17:41:00.000-08:00

Be innovative or die.

The Marketing Revolution, oh children...

2006-12-19T17:23:00.000-08:00

WILL NOT BE TELEVISED!

I have said it before and I will say it again... TV is on the way out! This is not blasphemy! NAY! This is not anarchy! This is revolution...NAY! This is, ADVOLUTION! Those who are fearsome will expire, or retire. So, its not about being stagnant or staunch anymore, fools. Join the pools and get social because you can't shake hands with a clenched fist.

Today, it's about social media and it is not a FAD.

Top ten Social Media Applications:

#10 Tagging
Descriptive words, aka metadata, assigned to content like blog postings, photos or videos to facilitate in-site searching and sharing.

Leaders: Flickr Del.icio.us Digg Shadows
Opportunity: 100 bricks of gold to the company that combines this well with SEO
#9 PodCasts
Audio and/or Video content downloadable to a device like an iPod for playback. PodCast is a fancy term for content on demand.

Leaders: Podcast Alley, Odeo, PodShow, Juice, itunes
Opportunity: Content is still king in this medium. Find the right programming that will appeal to the 24% of online North Americans interested podcasting but donÂt do it, and itÂll rain pennies from heaven.
#8 C2C eCommerce
Sites that enable Consumers to sell to Consumers with web properties often skimming a facilitation fee.

Leaders: eBay, Amazon, etsy, craigslist
Opportunity: About a quarter of online North Americans and just over a fifth of online Europeans buy and/or sell online. The biggest drag (and always has been) is delivery charges. Couriers should get into this business.

#7 Comparison Shopping Sites
Head to head comparison sites where consumers write and review the content.

Leaders: PriceGrabber, Froogle, Shopzilla
Opportunity: Corporate transparency is quickly becoming a reality in modern business. If you make a good product and donÂt lie in your marketing, you will win. This is true of every product and service in every industry. If you donÂt follow this advice, your company will fail within 10 years. Radical Trust me.

#6 P2P File Sharing
Here the users act as both client and host, exchanging audio, video, photos, software, etc, over a decentralized server network.

Leaders: BitTorrent Kazaa eDonkey
Opportunity: The music business should stop fighting and start feeding it. Provide your content on these networks, and make your money in concerts and royalties from other sources. Simple enough eh?
#5 Wikis
Shared web publishing software that allows users to edit content.

Leaders: Wikipedia, Socialtext, Basecamp, jotspot
Opportunity: Accolades to the Dr. who puts this type of social media into scientific research. Think of the wiki application to track bird migrations in ornithology. This is also the ultimate democratic tool. Unite the left with agreements on environmental, social and economical issues with a wiki-policy tool.
#4 Search Engines
Web searches based on user specified terms.

Leaders: Google, Yahoo! MSN AOL Technorati Ask
Opportunity: Almost 80% of American surfers use search engines weekly. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) of your content is the most important thing you can do to raise your profile online. If I had it to do all over again, I would make myself an expert SEOr.
#3 RSS
Call it Really Simple Syndication, Rich Site Summary, or whatever you want, RSS is quickly becoming the new norm in content collection. Why go to a each site via bookmarks when you can bring the site to you?

Leaders: Bloglines, Newsfire, FeedBurner Pluck, NewsGater
Opportunity: 6% of online North Americans use RSS feeds weekly, this number is growing rapidly. The OS that integrates RSS tightly into the UXP will be the winner of this race for sure. Marketers take heed. ÂDesign, build and post may not cut it in the future. What you need is post and feed.

#2 Blogs
Online journals with content management systems allowing for rapid publication. Blogs often include text, photos, video and other media.

Leading Blog Enablers: TypePad, WordPress, Blogger, Weblogs, Windows Live Spaces
Leading Blogs: Boing Boing, Autoblog, Gawker Network, LifeHacker
Opportunity: This is the new journalism. Blogs will eventually replace newspapers as 10% of online North Americans already go to them weekly.
#1 Social Networks
Destinations that enable users to customize, maintain and control their own personal network of contacts.

Leaders: MySpace FaceBook Friendster Linkedin YouTube
Opportunity: This rapidly growing segment has increased by 50% from 2004 and the trend is expected to continue. Marketers should stop trying to build and start partnering with these guys. The people that can truly crack social networks with sustainable relationships will literally change the face of marketing.

So there it is on a silver platter. A quick cheat sheet of the best Social Media Tools, each complete with description, best practices and the business opportunities they present. You have no excuse not to succeed!

Go forth and ADVOLVE.

Personality...

2006-12-15T13:10:00.000-08:00

Is something that every person in advertising has. Strong is usually another word that preceeds personality. This is the way it is. and if you learn to appreciate every personality you will be better off.

Sometimes you will detest the personalities you are faced with.

Sometimes you will be thought of atrocious.

But, in the end these emotions come about as a by product of a much larger, much more powerful emotion: love.

There is so much love and so much passion, but sometimes a party feels like they lack control, then they may lose trust.

But if you trust in one thing, trust in love.

Nothing will ever be perfect. No person will ever see anything in exactly the same manner you may. Try to see from every side. Then make your conclusions.

Love is a scary, powerful, wonderful thing.

This is the word: Failure.

2006-12-12T02:30:00.000-08:00

Great minds wil say embrace failure. Never lose your capacity to invent and learn because it becomes too risky. Take risks. ItÂ’s better to learn from glorious failures than from losing in the marketplace due to fear of failure and inaction.

T
A
K
E

R
I
S
K
S

FEAR is the enemy of creativity. Losers are motivated by fear.

RULES are for assholes. If you have to do what you are doing because you fear punishment or failure, you disgust me.

Just do more. and then do some more. Not because of money, not because of a grade..But because of failure and because of the OPPORTUNITY to create something TRULY great.

And then some wise words from Nathan," A man hasn't is not a failure until he refuses to get up."

My-steph-I

2006-12-11T16:13:00.000-08:00

Why is creativity so damned important? Why should it be the driving force in our bidness? Dan wieden puts it beautifully:

"We believe that creative insight is one that you don't expect and that is why it is powerful..It makes you think about things in a different way. A place you wouldn't have gone if you would have just followed logic and reason and focus groups. There is something that comes out of the intuition, the inspiration or the HEART that defies all the logic of that other stuff. Somehow people are talking to people and sharing something that's important to them... People have a relationship with an honest to God emotion."

This is why, Circles, we will NOT ever settle for, as we wrote 2 years ago for Yahoo!, flimsy or flaccid work.

IS the Idea BIG?
Is it Relevant?
Is it Insightful?
Is it worth Sharing?

If your idea doesn't make you want to shout from the rooftops...If it doesn't make you so excited that you CANT STOP, WONT STOP. Keep going.

Brilliance is exhausting. But when we find it we will know it. Until then PERSEVERE. Want it, but more importantly LOVE it.

*This is not a message to Circle disguised as a very clever joke.

2006-12-06T12:19:00.000-08:00

Q. Why do advertisers call traditional channels of media "Mediums"?

A. Because they are neither rare nor well done.

Cool.

MAKE HASTE!

Love.

2006-12-05T16:58:00.000-08:00

As my other half posted about the do more manifesto, I think I should talk about the one word manifesto, LOVE.

Everything you do, make or create should be some MANIFESTATION of love. The greatest brands in the world exist and continue existing because of love. Maybe their creators know this, maybe they don't, but what is unquestionable is that if you were to ask one of these creators whether or not they love what they have created they will tell you yes.

Love what you do. If you don't love what you do, stop doing it. No, I am not saying quit the thing, but rather I'm saying change the thing. Don't be content with being content. Be impassioned about something, and if your not make it something you are impassioned about.

This is how evolution happens. This is why things become new and improved. This is why brands get competition.

Love is a gift. Love is a privilege.

If you have the privilege of being in love with something then for God Sakes LOVE IT. Love it like there is no tomorrow. Refuse to let it go, refuse to let it die. Care about it. Treat it with respect. Buy pretty things for it.

If we are advertisers than our thing is brands. Fall in love with your brand and let your advertisements be manifestations of this love and you will have great advertisements.

Have you told your brand "I love you" today?

Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love.

Do. More.

2006-12-04T20:04:00.000-08:00

Culture can not continue on mediocrity.

Culture decays when it's not growing.

Cultre needs us: The Creaters, The Bringers, The Makers, the Risk Takers.

If it were up to the safe, we would be bored. If it were up to the careful we would be dead.

Do beautiful things with advertising. Because you can, and because you should, and because with out us... everyone is doomed.

Concise manifestos

2006-12-03T22:20:00.000-08:00

The two word manifesto:

Do More.

The one word manifesto:

Love.

Risk is the new black

2006-11-30T21:17:00.000-08:00

Risk is everythinng.

Communication was once argued to me to be the most fundamental part of being human.

Yea, sure. Maybe.

I wasn't really convinced at the time - I mean, if this were true then why do so many of us suck at it? Why do major brands and people with lots of money and power need help doing it? Why can't most of us get the simplest of ideas across to someone of the opposite sex without confusing everything and ending up inn/out of bed with eachother.

I think communication is one of the riskiest things we do.

When we communicate, we open ourselves up to the world.

Shit. What if they don't like my ideas. What if I am not as right as I think I am. What if they don't get me.

Shit.

The Actress is right, Risk is scary.

Thats why there are people like us, Ad People. People who take riskes, even when they are scared.

Ad People do so everyday - we present ideas... ideas that people can crush. We do so on behalf of brands.. if we mess up our clients can be sued, we could be fired, our clients brand could crash and burn.

Thats risky.

It's much easier to just stay quiet, then no one gets hurt.

Right?

(So I know this picture doesn't make sense here, but look, it's funny. Shit.)

*PS in the end the moral is that risk is Human.

How to be creative # 6

2006-11-29T12:51:00.000-08:00

6. Everyone is born creative.

Everyone is given a box of crayons in kindergarten and then when you hit puberty, they take the crayons away and replace it with an algebra book or an english book. With lots of rules.

Rules are for assholes. But you've been forced to adhere to these rules your entire life, because assholes rule the world.

So, years later when you get the creative itch again you start to hear a little voice say "May I have my crayons back, please?"

Go ahead and make something; make something really special. Even if no one will ever see it. Even if no one will ever buy it.

"If you try to make something just to fit your uninformed view of some hypothetical market, you will fail. If you make something special and powerful and honest and true, you will succeed."

You have to listen to the wee voice or it will surely die... you don't want to be a murderer, DO YOU?

Don't be afraid. They are only crayons. You didn't fear them in kindergarten. why would you fear them now, you are much SO bigger now.

Why yes, I do hate children.

2006-11-29T12:41:00.000-08:00

I hate kids. That's a given, but I didn't know this was an industry norm. Check out this post I just read on Copyranter. Art is cool!

The Post:

I HATE KIDS.

(click image)
Not YOUR kids, of course. Other people's. So, I've been laughing at this photo for, like, a week straight. It is fucking brilliant. And guess what? The photog, Tierney Gearon, is a women and a mother! And you wanna know something else? That's her mother in the maskÂ—who's a schizophrenic manic-depressive!

No, this is not quite as existential or philosophical as I am prone to get on this blog, but it made me laugh and I thought I'd probably pass the hilarity along to you. But really, I am probably the only person that reads my blog, and even that may be just optimistic speculation. Anywho, I hope I got a good laugh out of this.

?

2006-11-29T00:53:00.000-08:00

What comes first, the motivation or the inspiration?

(This is not rhetorical, what do you think?)

?

2006-11-28T12:15:00.000-08:00

Where do brands go when they die?

People often resist good ideas: Postal Vault Case study

2006-11-27T15:12:00.000-08:00

Because good ideas often involve change and change scares people.

Fear is the enemy of creativity.

Why is it that people feel it is a risk to change when i feel it is an even bigger risk to choose not to change.

What if things are a 6, but a little change could make them an 8 but you are too scared to try something different and so you are stuck in your 6 world for eternity.

Boo. not for me.

But I did just go check out the POSTAL VAULT website.

Not much has changed over there. In fact, nothing has changed over there.

Can't say I'm suprised by that and I can't say I'm suprised that their one size fits all campaign didn't work out for them.

Haven't they heard, one size fits all doesn't fit anybody.

Have you thought about that lately, POSTAL VAULT.

How to be creative #5

2006-11-27T14:51:00.000-08:00

5. You are responsible for your own experience.

Nobody can tell you if what you are doing is good, meaningful or worthwile. The more compelling the path, the more lonely it is.

But luckily when you start to spend a lot of time alone, you start to develope mulitple personalities. Which is awesome!

How to be creative # 4

2006-11-27T14:48:00.000-08:00

4. If your plan for greatness depends on you being suddenly discovered...your plan will probably fail.

-also, in regard to my last post, Perception vs. Reality, please refer to How to be creative #1

Please note, that in the perception vs. reality scenerio, the biggest factor is whose opinion of reality is more important to you. yours or theirs, whoever theirs may be.

If you are a artist. yours.
If you are a business. theirs.

Gosh that is a deep post. I may write a book. It may have pictures. hmmm...

Perception vs. Reality

2006-11-24T11:43:00.000-08:00

If all transactions with others, whether they be business or personal, are relationships, then all relationships suffer from a Perception vs. Reality conundrum.

There is no such thing as reality.

Well, there is, but it goes by the alias perception.

What DOOO I mean?

Precisely this:

Relationships involve two or more people. People, businesses, brands, messages, communication are all very complex beings. Very, very complex. Within these relationships there is a little monster called interpretation. This is all that matters. This is why, at least a "shared", reality cannot exist.

Its all dependent on one's interpretation of the relationship. So where you may think that you are giving your consumer or significant other everything they could ever desire, they may feel the exact opposite.

This is the perception. This is the REALITY. And it is more important than your own.

So watch and LISTEN. Shut up for a minute and observe their perception, because in truth, their perception is your reality.

How to be creative #3

2006-11-22T13:07:00.000-08:00

3. Put the hours in.

f somebody in your industry is more successful than you, it's probably because he works harder at it than you do. Sure, maybe he's more inherently talented, more adept at networking etc, but I don't consider that an excuse. Over time, that advantage counts for less and less. Which is why the world is full of highly talented, network-savvy, failed mediocrities.

So yeah, success means you've got a long road ahead of you, regardless. How do you best manage it?

Well, as I've written elsewhere, don't quit your day job. I didn't. I work every day at the office, same as any other regular schmoe. I have a long commute on the train, ergo that's when I do most of my drawing. When I was younger I drew mostly while sitting at a bar, but that got old.

The point is; an hour or two on the train is very managable for me. The fact I have a job means I don't feel pressured to do something market-friendly. Instead, I get to do whatever the hell I want. I get to do it for my own satisfaction. And I think that makes the work more powerful in the long run. It also makes it easier to carry on with it in a calm fashion, day-in-day out, and not go crazy in insane creative bursts brought on by money worries.

The day job, which I really like, gives me something productive and interesting to do among fellow adults. It gets me out of the house in the day time. If I were a professional cartoonist I'd just be chained to a drawing table at home all day, scribbling out a living in silence, interrupted only by freqent trips to the coffee shop. No, thank you.

Simply put, my method allows me to pace myself over the long haul, which is important.

Stamina is utterly important. And stamina is only possible if it's managed well. People think all they need to do is endure one crazy, intense, job-free creative burst and their dreams will come true. They are wrong, they are stupidly wrong.

Being good at anything is like figure skating- the definition of being good at it is being able to make it look easy. But it never is easy. Ever. That's what the stupidly wrong people coveniently forget.

If I was just starting out writing, say, a novel or a screenplay, or maybe starting up a new software company, I wouldn't try to quit my job in order to make this big, dramatic heroic-quest thing about it.

I would do something far simpler: I would find that extra hour or two in the day that belongs to nobody else but me, and I would make it productive. Put the hours in, do it for long enough and magical, life-transforming things happen eventually. Sure, that means less time watching TV, internet surfing, going out or whatever.

But who cares?

How to be creative #2

2006-11-22T13:06:00.000-08:00

2. The idea doesn't have to be big. It just has to change the world.

The two are not the same thing.
We all spend a lot of time being impressed by folk we've never met. Somebody featured in the media who's got a big company, a big product, a big movie, a big bestseller. Whatever.
And we spend even more time trying unsuccessfully to keep up with them. Trying to start up our own companies, our own products, our own film projects, books and whatnot.

I'm as guilty as anyone. I tried lots of different things over the years, trying desperately to pry my career out of the jaws of mediocrity. Some to do with business, some to do with art etc.

One evening, after one false start too many, I just gave up. Sitting at a bar, feeling a bit burned out by work and life in general, I just started drawing on the back of business cards for no reason. I didn't really need a reason. I just did it because it was there, because it amused me in a kind of random, arbitrary way.

Of course it was stupid. Of course it was uncommercial. Of course it wasn't going to go anywhere. Of course it was a complete and utter waste of time. But in retrospect, it was this built-in futility that gave it its edge. Because it was the exact opposite of all the "Big Plans" my peers and I were used to making. It was so liberating not to have to be thinking about all that, for a change.

It was so liberating to be doing something that didn't have to impress anybody, for a change.

It was so liberating to have something that belonged just to me and no one else, for a change.

It was so liberating to feel complete sovereignty, for a change. To feel complete freedom, for a change.

And of course, it was then, and only then, that the outside world started paying attention.

The sovereignty you have over your work will inspire far more people than the actual content ever will. How your own sovereignty inspires other people to find their own sovereignty, their own sense of freedom and possibility, will change the world far more than the the work's objective merits ever will.

Your idea doesn't have to be big. It just has to be yours alone. The more the idea is yours alone, the more freedom you have to do something really amazing.

The more amazing, the more people will click with your idea. The more people click with your idea, the more it will change the world.

How to be Creative #1

2006-11-22T13:01:00.000-08:00

1. Ignore everybody.

The more original your idea is, the less good advice other people will be able to give you. When I first started with the cartoon-on-back-of-bizcard format, people thought I was nuts. Why wasn't I trying to do something more easy for markets to digest i.e. cutey-pie greeting cards or whatever?
You don't know if your idea is any good the moment it's created. Neither does anyone else. The most you can hope for is a strong gut feeling that it is. And trusting your feelings is not as easy as the optimists say it is. There's a reason why feelings scare us.
And asking close friends never works quite as well as you hope, either. It's not that they deliberately want to be unhelpful. It's just they don't know your world one millionth as well as you know your world, no matter how hard they try, no matter how hard you try to explain.

Plus a big idea will change you. Your friends may love you, but they don't want you to change. If you change, then their dynamic with you also changes. They like things the way they are, that's how they love you- the way you are, not the way you may become.

Ergo, they have no incentive to see you change. And they will be resistant to anything that catalyzes it. That's human nature. And you would do the same, if the shoe was on the other foot.

With business colleagues it's even worse. They're used to dealing with you in a certain way. They're used to having a certain level of control over the relationship. And they want whatever makes them more prosperous. Sure, they might prefer it if you prosper as well, but that's not their top priority.

If your idea is so good that it changes your dynamic enough to where you need them less, or God forbid, THE MARKET needs them less, then they're going to resist your idea every chance they can.

Again, that's human nature.

GOOD IDEAS ALTER THE POWER BALANCE IN RELATIONSHIPS, THAT IS WHY GOOD IDEAS ARE ALWAYS INITIALLY RESISTED.

Good ideas come with a heavy burden. Which is why so few people have them. So few people can handle it.

It's always sunny cont.

2006-11-16T17:30:00.000-08:00

There are muffins in Advertising!

It's always sunny in advertising

2006-11-16T17:25:00.000-08:00

excuses, excuses: Don't Fear

2006-11-14T20:12:00.000-08:00

The best time to start is when you've got enough money in the bank to support all contingencies.
The best time to start is when the competition is far behind in technology, sophistication and market acceptance.
The best time to start is when the competition isn't too far behind, because then you'll spend too long educating the market.
The best time to start is when everything at home is stable and you can really focus.
The best time to start is when you're out of debt.
The best time to start is when no one is already working on your idea.
The best time to start is when your patent comes through.
The best time to start is after you've got all your VC funding.
The best time to start is when the political environment is more friendly than it is now.
The best time to start is after you've got your degree.
The best time to start is after you've worked all the kinks out of your plan.
The best time to start is when you're sure it's going to work.
The best time to start is after you've hired the key marketing person for the new division.
The best time to start was last year. The best opportunities are already gone.
The best time to start is before some pundit declares your segment passe. Too late.
The best time to start is when the new generation of processors is shipping.
The best time to start is when the geopolitical environment settles down.
Actually, as you've probably guessed, the best time to start was last year. The second best time to start is right now.

Nothing is ever going to be perfect and you can't waiting around for that day.

as I am often quoted saying,

FEAR IS THE ENEMY OF CREATIVITY.

Take a hint from a brand that knows : Just Do It.

I love lists

2006-10-24T12:13:00.000-07:00

1. Don’t run out of money. It always takes longer and costs more than you expect to spread your idea. You can budget for it or you can fail.

2. You won’t get it right the first time. Your campaign will need to be reinvented, adjusted or scrapped. Count on it.

3. Convenient choices are not often the best choices. Just because an agency, an asset or a bizdev deal are easy to do doesn’t mean that they are your best choice.

4. Irrational, strongly held beliefs of close advisors should be ignored. It doesn’t matter if they don’t like your logo.

5. If it makes you nervous, it’s probably a good idea. If you’re sure you’re right, you probably aren’t.

6. Focusing obsessively on one niche, one feature and one market is almost always a better idea than trying to satisfy everyone.

7. At some point, you’re either going to have to stick to your convictions or do what the market tells you. It’s hard to do both.

8. Compromise in marketing is almost always a bad idea. Extreme A could work. Extreme B could work. The average of A and B will almost never work.

9. Test, measure and optimize. Figure out what's working and do it more.

10. Read and learn. There are a million clues, case studies, books and proven tactics out there. You can't profitably ignore them until you know them, and you don't have the time or the money to make the same mistake someone else made last week. It's cheaper and faster to read about it than it is to do it.

Pop vs. Soda vs. Coke?

2006-10-23T11:45:00.000-07:00

When you are a kid, you don’t really notice when someone uses a different term for the same thing, but growing older, you begin to notice these linguistical hiccups. Different regions of the english speaking world use different terms for the same thing — soft drinks.
The word soda comes from soda-water (sodium bicarbonate with acid to create fizz). Its original meaning was sodium carbonate, Na2CO3, but has evolved into one of the generic terms for a soft drink.
Pop was introduced later in 1812 by Robert Southey,
A new manufactory of a nectar, between soda-water and ginger-beer, and called pop, because ‘pop goes the cork’ when it is drawn.
Trailing soda and pop in popularity is coke, which has influence in the south likely due to the location of the Coca-Cola plant in Georgia. “I’ll have a coke,” “What kind of coke?”, “Root beer please”.
While this paper does numerous small surveys on the ubiquity of soda/pop/coke, this newer map is a more comprehensive view of the linguistic divide of people in the United States (via popvssoda.com),
(click to enlarge)

Soda is more popular in the southwest, northeast, and St. Louis area; pop is used more in the northwest and midwest; coke is used in the south.
Other terms for soft drinks from other counties (via wikipedia):
Canadians and the British say “pop”
Some Brits even say “fizzy drink”
In Western Scotland, they use “ginger”
Aussies and New Zealanders say “soft drink”
Some Australians call it “lolly water”
So where did the term soft drink come from? It was chosen because a hard was used to describe alcoholic beverages, hence the antonym soft was the obvious choice for non-alcoholic beverage. And beverage came from the Old French root word beivre (to drink) during their conquest of England in 1066.

Von Schneidemesser, L. (1996). Soda or Pop? Journal of English Linguistics, 24(4), 270-287.

Secret Weapon

2006-10-19T17:19:00.000-07:00

CULTURE:

NOUN:
The totality of socially transmitted behavior patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions, and all other products of human work and thought.
These patterns, traits, and products considered as the expression of a particular period, class, community, or population: Edwardian culture; Japanese culture; the culture of poverty.
These patterns, traits, and products considered with respect to a particular category, such as a field, subject, or mode of expression: religious culture in the Middle Ages; musical culture; oral culture.
The predominating attitudes and behavior that characterize the functioning of a group or organization.
Source: AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY

teenage youth culture and language

The way in which the youth of today uses language to conenside with their cultures and beliefs.

A teen that listens to punk music may use some of the words and phrases that the artists may. For example: 'I don't care about the world'

SOURCE: URBAN DICTIONARY

M upside down is W

2006-10-18T14:39:00.000-07:00

Precisely. I don't think this title could be any more clear. Its so simple, stupid! Just turn the M upside down of a given word, and the word of today is : ME.

For years we in the advertising world have been the term "me generation". In this generation, advertising was made in a way that seemed specialized to each and every individual. We had target markets named after one person: refrence Mike and Kate of NSAC past (just don't look at the visual presentation - Heyoooo! Who was in charge of that anyways? I forget, blast.)

Where was I? Right, ME, just where I want to be. Not anymore. Gone are the days of consumer made advertising. Strangely enough, it is Yahoo! that is grasping to this "original" content concept for dear life.

ME = WE.

WE are now in the "We Generation". People want to be connected to one another. People want to belong. People want a place to call there own whether it be a branded city (see more of this later) or a web community (think Myspace), its time we target the community.

But what does community mean. Is community the new culture? Especially here in this NATION that is in its nature a melting pot. We are called CULTURELESS. But, little bugs, this is untrue.

We have our own cultures, defined on our own terms. They are not confined to RACE, RELIGION, or LANGUAGE. Im sorry, but this view is outdated and unapplicable.

The younger we go, the more this is true. We are connected through similarities in our own cultural definitions.

Think of a company culture. It is not weighed down by silly statistics that MEAN NOTHING and make your eyes bleed. They are defined by more ABSTRACT qualities.

When you ask me about my companies culture, that company being Circle Advertising, I say to you rebellious, creative and sexy. Not 5 african americans, not 3 spanish speakers. We are connected to each other by what we have in common intellectually.

Brands can learn from this. Brands know this. THINK ABOUT IT.

What connects us to each other can connect us to a brand if a brand proves itself to be a part of a culture, or at least understand it.

Motivate with Hate?

2006-10-17T13:16:00.000-07:00

I hate hate. Its true. I try not to hate anything, but rather learn from it and CHANGE the future. The only place that I am motivated by hate is the gym - BLAST THE FAT!

Honda. Maybe you have heard of this brand? I certainly hope so. Honda is incredible. They are what dreams are made of. If you haven't been passed the floating "book of dreams", let me know because it is something that should come into everybody's life.

Below is an ad called "hate something, change something" by Honda. Besides it being an incredible ad, it is incredibly inspirational. Think, step one of NSAC. Locate the problem, find the solution.

LOVE

Just incase you needed a daily dose of goose bumps

2006-10-17T12:44:00.000-07:00

Here's to the crazy ones.
The misfits.
The rebels.
The troublemakers.
The round pegs in the square holes.
The onles who see things differently.
They're not fond of rules and have no respect for the status quo.
You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them, disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them.
About the only thing that you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things.
They invent.
They imagine.
They heal.
They explore.
they create.
They inspire.
They push the human race forward.
Maybe they have to be crazy.
How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art?
Or sit in silence and hear a song that's never been written?
Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?
We make tools for these kinds of people.
While some may seem them as the crazy ones, we see genius.
Because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.

Correlation?

2006-10-15T14:18:00.000-07:00

There's a Place for Us...

2006-10-15T13:08:00.000-07:00

So, here I am as I usually am, drooling over some tasty morsel of information that I just read about... I read A LOT. Anyways, being a twenty something - soon to graduate - individual I find myself perplexed by the really original question of "what am I going to do after college?"

Well folks, I'm lookin' and I'm likin' because the world, where I thought a person like me with a brain that "goes both ways" would end up an eternal outcast, is changing.

Creative Business is the new age, and baby a great age it is.

Here is an excerpt from business week that talks about this corporate cultural shift:

The Knowledge Economy as we know it is being eclipsed by something new -- call it the Creativity Economy. Even as policymakers and pundits wring their hands over the outsourcing of engineering, software writing, accounting, and myriad other high-tech, high-end service jobs -- not to mention the move of manufacturing to Asia -- U.S. companies are evolving to the next level of economic activity.

What was once central to corporations -- price, quality, and much of the left-brain, digitized analytical work associated with knowledge -- is fast being shipped off to lower-paid, highly trained Chinese and Indians, as well as Hungarians, Czechs, and Russians. Increasingly, the new core competence is creativity -- the right-brain stuff that smart companies are now harnessing to generate top-line growth. The game is changing. It isn't just about math and science anymore. It's about creativity, imagination, and, above all, innovation.

What is unfolding is the commoditization of knowledge. We have seen global forces undermine autos, electronics, and other manufacturing, but the Knowledge Economy was expected to last forever and play to America's strengths: great universities, terrific labs, smart immigrants, an entrepreneurial business culture.

read the whole article at http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_31/b3945401.htm

Drink it down creatives, it always goes down smooth!

Sleep is for...

2006-10-09T15:06:00.000-07:00

This is un-freaking-believable...

Reminicint of the Good/Bad/Ugly old days a la:

Oh deskies.

Brand Stretching - GENIUS, SON!

2006-10-09T14:52:00.000-07:00

Brand Stretching: V: To stretch a brand beyond where it normally performs.

Brand stretching means taking your brand into a whole new market. It’s the Caterpillar Boots strategy. As distinct from brand exploitation (your logo on merchandise) and brand extension (from Cadbury chocolate to Flake).

The general formula for success is 1+1=3

Nivea Sun drew upon Nivea’s heritage in skincare, it also made the main brand sexier. Sun worship is natural, hedonistic and lets face it bikini clad.

The core principles are as follows:

1. have a good enough brand
YES: Versace Palazzo hotel
NO: McDonald’s Arches hotel (that’s a real example, it’s in Zurich)

2. enter hot markets, with growth, dynamism or simply buzz
YES: Nivea Sun
NO: Club Med shower gel

3. stick with audiences who already love your brand
YES: Armani Casa home design and furnishings for yuppies
NO: Levi’s suits

4. it just has to ‘click’ (even if that’s just in hindsight)
YES: Apple iPod
No: microsoft XBox

5. think and act like a start up
YES: the launch of Playstation (1) a geurilla media spectacular
NO: the eventual flopping out of Sony MP3 players

The last point is critical. A Nielsen study in the 90s showed that launches under existing brand names were no more (or less) successful than new brands. the suspicion is that a new brand puts more effort in; this is their one shot.

The methodology.

A. break your brand into numerous part credentials
B. use these to invent new products, services, concepts in a different market
C. get into conversation; seek informants and partners and talent who know how to make these often naive but different ideas into a functioning reality in the new market

If you took the whole Caterpillar brand (industrial machinery multinational) you’d never get to boots. But both have excellent gripping treads, rugged performance and a certain appeal to the 4 year old in all men.

I have found this methodology to work excellently across a number of projects. i cant say what the ideas were because while they wouldnt have to shoot me, their lawyers would be entitled to have a pop!

So lets take a hypothetical one instead. What if IKEA (who I know well, and am starting a new project with, but who I have never worked on brand stretching with) were looking for new brand stretching ideas? They have already done some thrilling extensions eg pet furniture, IKEA homes (ready furnished and affordable), IKEA food (just launching; an extension of the cafe). But what about…

IKEA COMPUTERS: funky, functional and shockingly affordable

IKEA HOME EFFICIENCY: the social values applied to solar panels, monitoring energy use, plus of course the storage solutions which make daily life so much more lievable

IKEA SEX BOOKS & TOYS: a more thrilling topic for their competence in instructions and clever objects

IKEA SENIOR: accessible, thoughtful design which makes kitchens, stairs and so on work for (customers’) elderly (parents)

IKEA TRANSPORT: perhaps a new take on the motorised bicycle/with secure trailer for kids, shopping and of course flat packs; a clever hybrid solution to the pressing prolkems of city living; only this time outside the home

IKEA LOTTERY; based on their vision of improving the lives of ‘the many’ - with all profits to urban regeneration

IKEA NURSERIES; a key social support, unaffordable and poorly managed as a sector, an extension of the instore creche

Those examples are deliberately off the cuff and hastily sketched. I just want to show the workings. I’ve found that bar a few lucky quick wins, it generally takes a lot of patient digging to unearth the star ideas which are truly lateral and yet ‘RIGHT’.

Alright, Circle... Get to it.

Must is the operative word here. DUH.

2006-10-09T13:05:00.000-07:00

Must, need, love, crave. These are all words that get you into Circle Advertising.

This:

is what gets Circle Advertising to the Nationals.

Don't say I didn't warn you.

5 Ways to Teach People to be More Innovative

2006-10-09T12:08:00.000-07:00

- Bob Sutton, The D-School @ Stanford University

I found this while perusing through my many industry blogs that we ad people peruse. Its what we do. Anyhow, being the "boss" of a company, I found this very useful and have applied it to the ways thing are going to improve here at Circle Advertising this year. More than likely, it will be useful to anyone who reads it, so listen up, Chuck.

1. Producing Smart individuals is the first step; teaching them to collaborate is the second.

2. Teach people to fight as if they are right and listen as if they are wrong.

3. Teach people to treat innovation as an import export business.

4. Teach experts to seek out novices, and novices to seek out experts.

5. Teaching people to succeed isn't enough; teach them how to fail too.

Our Thing, a poem of sorts.

2006-10-09T11:56:00.000-07:00

We are the eternal underdog; the long shot; the risky bet.
This thing e do, we do not for the glory; not for the gain; not for the win.
We do this thing because we need this thing.
It runs in ourveins and it speaks to our souls; it moves us.

This thing is not comfortable. This thing is not safe.
Nothing here is the same today as it was yesterday, as it will be tomorrow.
This is the way we like our thing.

Smite rounting, for this is the enemy of evolution.
Reject fear, for this is the emeny of creativity.

Take notice. see all. Think. Listen. Act. Learn. GROW.

Fat Cats nap.
underdogs plot.

underdogs run faster; push harder; think smarter.
They snatch the Fat Cat's feast from under their face.

While they are sleeping, we are scavengering.
While they are gloating, we are starving.

For our feast, we will never stop.
For our thing, we will persevere.

- the Children.

Lessons to learn from Columbus besides the obvious raping and pillaging.

2006-10-09T11:53:00.000-07:00

Columbus failed early and often. He failed when he joined in the attempt to conqure the Kingdom of Naples. Later, he was captured by Portuguese ships as he escorted an armed convoy. He was wounded. And he never did get to India. The fact that he didn't give up and become a shopkeeper after this rough start was critical to his success.

Columbus was a thief. He didn't invent the idea that the world was round. In fact, Ertosthenes, Aristotle and Ptolemy pretty much made it an established fact among educated people long before Columbus was born. Just because he didn't invent the idea doesn't mean he couldn't use it.

Columbus didn't do his research carefully, reinforcing his optimism. He thought that calculations of the size of the Earth were in Italian miles, not in the longer Arabic miles. The correct calculations would have 'proven' he should never have left.

Columbus took advantage of human nature. The rulers of Spain were desperate to find an edge and Columbus offered them a quest that could address their state of emergency.

Columbus was persistent. It took him seven years at court in order to get funding.

No one really believed that Columbus would change everything. His contract with the king included huge bonuses for success, largely because they were pretty sure that he would fail.

Columbus didn't consider side affects until it was too late. In order to help repay his investors, Columbus took slaves (the first person to do so in the New World) and in one notorious case, arranged to cut the hands off of each Haitian adult male who failed to bring a minimum amount of gold to his ships.

Ultimately, in death, Columbus became a brand, a story bigger than his own facts. Buried in Spain, moved to Santo Domingo, then to Havana and then back to Spain. Namesake of the Knights of Columbus. Honored by statues and streets and even cities. In many ways considered the "first American," demonstrating vision, persistence, insight, brilliance, bravery and world changing paradigm shifting... almost none of it true, of course.

I think the lesson of Columbus Day is a marketing lesson. Successful marketers allow people to tell themselves a story they want to hear. Columbus did that his entire life, and especially in death. Great marketers then do work that they're proud of, using their leverage to create things that people might not want in the short run, but are delighted in later on. I think Columbus was certainly successful. I wonder what would have happened if he had been great.

Be afraid

2006-02-23T11:42:00.000-08:00

Your tired notions of "the market" make our eyes glaze over. We don't recognize ourselves in your projections—perhaps because we know we're already elsewhere.

We like this new marketplace much better. In fact, we are creating it.

We are looking to experience, not to observe.

We are not scientists, we are strategists.

Inspired Traditional

2006-02-22T16:05:00.000-08:00

My BUBBLES!!!! Now this is a great magazine ad. People LOVE playing with packing bubbles. I would rip that out and carry it around with me and pop them in peoples ears when they zoned out, the acheived reaction would be startling the dozer. In response to the dozer's jolting and strange grunting sound, I would laugh. Doing this until the bubbles were gone would surely make me tired, and thirsty. BINGO...

Advice to Young Planners

2006-02-22T10:41:00.000-08:00

Advice to young planners
1) See the world differently to everyone else
2) Try to be interesting first and right second
3) Read weird shit it always come in handy
4) Speak in analogies – the more bizarre the better
5) Even if the thinking that you are forced to go with isn’t the most inspiring always know you had a better strategy up your sleeve
6) Think about brands and categories you don’t work on – develop latent strategies for these – it is good practice and they may be useful at some point
7) Think and communicate clearly always – radical doesn’t mean complicated

Reading this was like reading a life confirmation specified to me. Its okay to pretend that you are from another planet, make-up stuff to sound cooler, memorize and quote "weird shit", speak in analogies much like Ricky Martin and Carson Daley concieved a love child through immaculate conception and named it Fakar then went on to create a family band and tour the UK, be freakishly obsessed with advertising and brands, come up with strategies in your sleep, and speak to people like they are little children.